Shoe form



Lmgesz W. J. DE WITT Dec. 9, 1930.

SHOE FORM Filed March 3, 1930 I, e 75507 74Zizzw 1m W Maw, 1/:

Patented Dec. 9,1930

1 UNITED STATES PATENT foF-FICE 4 w WILLIAM J. nn wrrr, or AUBURN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO SHOE FORM 00., me, or

AUBURN, NEW YOBIK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK SHOE FORM Application filed. March a,

This invention relates to an improvement in a shoe form, more particularly in one of the full form type such as is shown,fo'r'eX- ample, in my prior Patent No. 1,632,953, dated June 21, 1927. As pointed out in that patent, the heel of the form is made by overlapping portions of the side walls, whlch portions may be left free and unconnected, as shown inmy Patent No. 1,632,954 dated une 21, 1927. One means of joining the portions of the side walls which form the heel is shown in my copending application, Serial No. 376,883, filed June 9, 1929.

The present application is based upon a rfurther development of the full form feature having for its object to provide means wherei by the width ofthe heel may be adjusted as desired, and when so adjusted will remainin such position. A further object of thismvention is to provide afull form, the-bottom of the heel of such formbeing open at the rear'to permit easy manipulation of theform when it is inserted into a shoe. Other objects will appear from a consideration of the following specification and of the drawings which form a part thereof, and in which:

Fig. 1 is aside elevation of a full shoe form embodying this invention; 7 i Fig. 2 is an end view thereof; r

Fig. 3. 's a cross section of the heel taken along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of a full shoe form illustrating another embodiment of this invention; 1 5

Fig. 5 is a rear view of suchform; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are end views of other'embodiments of this invention,'the heel poitions being extended in order to illustrate clearly the relation of the portions of the side wall which form the heel.

Referringto the embodimentof my invention illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the side walls ofthe form 10 terminate, atthe heel'in projecting portions or tabs 11 and12. The

tab 11 extends from the upper edge of one side wall, and the tab 12 extends from'the 'middle ofthe edge of the other sidewall,

1930. Serial No. 432,587.

11'projects,is provided with a series of slots l i '16 laterally spaced, each of which is of a size sufiicient to receive the tabv 12 projecting from the other side wall 17. It will be noted that the forward movement of the tab. 12 in] the 7 slot l6'into which it is inserted islimited by a tongue 18 preferably integral with the tab 12. i This tongue 18 extends-along the outer surface of the wall 15'and its engagementat the rootwith the forward wall of a slot 16 positively limits the forward movement of the tab 1 In the embodiment shown in Figs. 4 and 5,

ly, the tab 24 which projects from the upper edge of'the'side wall 22 is the same as the tab 11 shown in the first embodiment; The

tab '23, however, is preferably made narrower than the tab 12 of this embodiment and is;

tab 33 having at its outer end a button or rivet 34 which is adapted to enter the desired slot 35 leading from the longitudinally extending main slot36 formed in the side wall -32. The tab 33 corresponds to the tab 23 of a the form 20, but instead of'b-eing made integral with its side wall is secured thereto by a rivet or button 37. It will further be'n'oted that in the third embodiment, the end-walls are completely separated at the heel and'are joined only by theportion 33. a l Q Fig. 7 illustrates another embodiment in which the side walls40and 41 ofthe form are directly interlockedand the tabs shown in -'the other embodiments are omitted. Formed in the rear end of the wall 41 are spaced slots 42 of the bayonet type while'the rear end of thewall 4O carriesa button -or rivet 43. The rear ends of the walls are overlapped to. make'heel forming plies and-are 1 the side walls 21 and 22 of the form .20 terminate inprojecting tabs 23 and 24 respective ment. After either form 10 or has'been around. the last in order to make the heel,

the heel portions and tabs of the sidewalls are moistened, preferably by dipping in alcohol or acetone and held in the proper position around the last until dried.

l t willbe'understood that when afull form is inserted in ajishoeit is necessary that the bottom of the heel be contracted, and inorder to facilitate this movement the ends ofv the side walls terminate at a d1stancefro1n each other, asshown in the accompanying drawings. The tab 11 of the firstembodiment and the'tab 24 of the second embodiment do not prevent this deformation of the heel although offering a yielding resistance to the moveinserted in a shoe the portions 11-or 24Iact upon the end of the side Wall against which they rest, to causethe lower ends of the end walls to separate, and the form to resume the normal position shown in Figs. 2 and 5. It will be understood that an examination of the shoe into which the form is to be placed will indicate tothe operator the relative position of the heel members when in the shoe, and

in the first embodiment the tab '12 is inserted into the proper slot 16 in the wall 15 before the form is inserted into the shoe. In the other embodiments, however, this is not necessary-and in fact is seldom done. The button 25 ofthe tab-23 or-the button 34 of the jtab33 is'placed in the forward slot 27 or 85 and after the form has been inserted into the shoethe button 25 or 34, which is of course accessible from within the form, can be'easily raised into thejmain slot and the side walls separated until they come into close contact with the-walls of the shoe. The button 25 or 34 is then depressed into the slot 27 or 35,

which corresponds most closely with this p'o- The button 43 of the embodiment shown in Fig. 7 may similarly be located in a slot 42 after the form has been placedin a shoe.

It will be. noted that, in each embodiment, when the heel of the form isset inthe proper posit-ion in theshoe it will support'the side wallso'f the shoe and oppose any tendency of the shoe walls to collapse, due to external pressure. At the same time, when the form .is tobe removed, the top oftheheel can vJoe readily contracted, the ends of the side walls turning upon the attachment of the intermediate tab as a pivot, and the form raised until parti 'a-lly-out of the shoe. The top is of thepatents above mentioned.

then expanded and the bottom of the heel contracted so that the form is removed with out further difiiculty. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, however, the button 25 or 35 can be removed from the slot and shifted to the forward slot, thus positively drawing the ends of the side walls together and contracting the heel of the form to pernfilit removing the form more easily from the s oe.

lVhile each of the'embodiments herein set forth disclose the provision of one or more tabs which form extensions of the side walls of the formit will be, of course, understood that instead of providing two relatively narrow tabs'the side walls may be extended and V overlapped as shown for example in either Thus =referring for'example to Fig. 7 of the drawing the portion 40 may be the end of one side wall and the portion 41 the end 'of'the other side wall. These endsoverlapping arejoined by the use of the slots 42 and the button 43.

It will'beun'ders'tood therefore that I am not limited to the use of these narrow tabs and that the interlocking features 'of the various embodiments may be-employed in connection with the ends of the sidewalls without departing from the spirit and scope of the inslot with which the tab engages, and means to limit the movement of the tab in the slot in one direction. r

2. In a shoe form comprising side walls,

--the' ends of whichwalls'make the heel of the form,a tab'projecting from one of said ends, the other end being provided with at least one slot with which the tab engages, and means carried by the tab=to limit'the move ment of the tab in the slot in one direction.

3. In a shoe formcomprising side walls,

the ends of which walls make the heel of the form, atabprojecting from one of said ends,

the other end being provided with at least one slot with which the tab engages, and means carried by theta-b which by contact with one -wallof the slot limits the movement of the side walls, the ends-of which walls make the heelof the form, a tab projecting from one of said ends, the other'end being provided with at least one tab in the slot in one direction and thereby prevents the collapseof theheelb 4. In a shoe form comprisingside walls, the-ends -of which walls make the heel of the form, a tabprojecting from one of said ends, the other end beingprov-ided with at least one 5. In a shoe formcomprisi'ng side walls, the ends of "which walls make "the heel of "the I form, a tab projecting from one of said ends, the other end being provided with at least one slot with which the tab engages, the tip of the tab passing through the slot into the interior of the form, and a tongue integral with the tab which bears against the forward wall of the slot and limits the forward movement of the tabin the slot and thereby prevents the collapse of the heel.

6. In a shoe form comprising side walls, the ends of which walls make the heel of the form, a tab projecting from one of said ends, the other end being provided with at least one slot with which the tab engages, the tip of the tab passing through the slot into the interior ofv the form, and means carried by the tab, which means bears against the forward wall of the slot and limits the forward movement of the tab in the slot and thereby prevents the collapse of the heel.

7. In a shoe form comprising side walls, the ends of which walls make the heel of the form, a tab projecting from each end over the outer surface of the other end, one of the ends being provided with a slot with which the tab from the other end engages, and means for holding said slot engaging tab against movement in one direction whereby the ends of the side walls may be pivotally moved relative to each other.

8. In a shoe form comprising side walls,

form, a tab projecting from each end'over the outer surface of the other end, one tab projecting from the top of the end of one 9. In a shoe form comprising side walls,-

wall being provided with at least one slot with which the tab from the second named wall engages and through which the tip of the tab passes into the interior of the form, V

and a tongue on the tab which limits the forward movement thereof whereby the ends of the side walls may be pivotally moved relative to each other.

11. In a shoe form comprising side walls, the ends of which walls make the heel of the form, a tab projecting from each end over the outer surface of the other end, one'tab projecting from the top of the end of one side wall, the other tab, projecting from the middle of the other side walls, the first named wall being provided with at least one slot with which the tab from the second named wall engages and through which the tip of the tab passes into the interior of the form,

and a tongue on the tab which by its contact with the forward edge of the slot limits the forward movement thereof whereby the ends of the side walls may be pivotally moved relative-to eachother. v V

Signed by me at Auburn, New York this 14th day of February, 1930.

' WILLIAM J DE WITT. V

' the ends of which walls make the heel of the the ends of which walls make the heel of the I form, a tab projecting from each end over the outer surface of the other end, one tab projecting from the top of the end of one side wall, the other tab projecting from the middle of the end of the other side wall, the first named wall being provided with at least one slot with which the tab from the second named wall engages, and means carried by the slot engaging tab for limiting the forward movement thereof whereby the ends of the side walls may be pivotally moved relative to each other.

10. In a shoe form comprising side walls the ends of which walls make the heel of the form, a tab projecting from each end over the outer surface of the other end, one-tab projecting from the top of the end of one side wall, the other tab projecting from the middle of the other side walls, the 'first'named 

